AL - Jessica Bortle beats 14-year old special needs daughter to death; sentenced to 1 year in prison - Oct 12, 2023

[Ebon]

Mom sentenced to 1 year in prison in blunt force trauma death of special-needs daughter

Jessica Bortle was sentenced to one year in prison for her role in the death of her special-needs daughter, who died of blunt-force trauma to the torso.

lawandcrime.com

A 36-year-old mother in Alabama will spend just over a year behind bars for her role in the death of her 14-year-old special-needs daughter, who died of blunt force trauma to the torso in 2021.

Escambia County Circuit Court Judge ordered Jessica Bortle on Wednesday to serve a sentence of one year and one day for abuse inflicted on Jasmine Singletary, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. The court credited Bortle with 212 days already served.

Bortle had initially been charged with one count of negligent manslaughter and one count of aggravated child abuse after prosecutors said she became angry at her daughter for acting out and responded by slamming a table into the girl’s abdomen while the child was confined to a hospital bed. But in July, a jury found Bortle guilty of battery, a lesser charge than manslaughter, and child abuse, a lesser charge than aggravated child abuse.

Following the verdict, Nobles vacated Bortle’s battery conviction, saying the charge was “subsumed in the child abuse charge,” meaning the two offenses were merged into one.

Nobles also ordered Bortle to serve three years of probation following her release.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Wow. Since her act resulted in a death, you'd think her sentence would be longer.

We all have the ability to walk away when angry, and if we choose instead to lash out violently...

 

[katydid23]

Only one year ? That's ridiculous.

 

[Eloise]

"Acting out"? While confined to a hospital bed? Sounds like victim blaming. The whole thing is disgusting.
People with disabilities are not considered fully equal people and this just proves it IMO.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

"Acting out"? While confined to a hospital bed? Sounds like victim blaming. The whole thing is disgusting.
People with disabilities are not considered fully equal people and this just proves it IMO.

You are 100% correct, Eliose. Essentially anyone who requires 24/7 caregiving isn't viewed by society as having as much value as other people.

Yes, caregiving is brutal, and there isn't enough support for caregivers. But anyone's murder is worth more than a short incarceration. The short incarceration (if any) would be appropriate if she had, say, left her daughter at a hospital and walked away. JMO.

 

[Goecke]

Once again the justice system failed and showed that they think disabled people's lives matter less. Apparently the 'acting out' consisted of Jasmine swearing, which sounds like pretty normal teenager behavior...

Caregiver burnout is a very real thing and we 1000% need more resources to help parents who are caregivers to disabled kids. But I'm not buying this was a case of the mom lashing out due to caregiver burnout, either. Jasmine was in the hospital, where she had doctors and nurses to were supposed to care for her. The mom could have easily just left the room if she was frustrated, but she didn't.

I have a feeling that if a parent beat a non-disabled teenager to death with a table after they swore at them, there would be MUCH stronger consequences.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I have a feeling that if a parent beat a non-disabled teenager to death with a table after they swore at them, there would be MUCH stronger consequences.

It doesn't sound like she picked up a table and beat her. It sounds like she shoved a table toward her -- not sure how long it lasted? But agree, angry people have to be able to just walk away.

I am not sure the justice system would give another parent who did the same a harsher sentence, especially if they took responsibility and were remorseful. I say this because child abuse isn't typically punished much. Sometimes not at all - if the parents have financial or social status. ETA- this is just true for any domestic type of violence or even an "impulsive" act toward a stranger. JMO/MOO.
I do think it should be taken much more seriously.

 

[caribou_birdie]

I don't understand. The act of pushing the table resulted in death. How is that not manslaughter? This is utter nonsense.

Caregiving is hard. I've done it for an infant with special needs and now am doing it for my elderly mother. I am fully aware it is going to get much worse than it is now with her. There is no support for caregivers, but there is no reason to sentence her lightly. She committed the act.

 

[dalsglen]

A year is not enough by a long shot

Mom accused of 'obliterating' special needs daughter's liver, killing child for 'cussing' and 'throwing and breaking crayons' while in hospital bed

Jessica Bortle is about to begin her trial as she stands accused of killing her special needs daughter, whose injuries doctors said were 'similar to those found on traffic crash victims."

lawandcrime.com

Jasmine, had been admitted to the hospital on July 8 suffering from a “closed head injury of suspicious origins.” However, the child died in her hospital room five days later after mysteriously sustaining “massive injuries similar to those found on traffic crash victims.

Investigators ultimately determined that Bortle leaned on the table with all of her weight for so long that she “ground the table into Jasmine’s liver which caused the ‘obliteration'” described by the doctor.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Oh, I stand corrected on what occurred. Horrifying.